Calls Mount for Georgia to Fire Kirby Smart’s ‘Best Friend’ After Sugar Bowl Loss
In a grinding and ugly 23-10 loss, even if it comes in the College Football Playoff and even if it comes with the starting quarterback sidelined because of injury, it’s not likely that an offensive coordinator is going to come out looking good.
That’s been the case for Georgia’s Mike Bobo, who does indeed not look good in the cold light of day following Thursday evening’s Sugar Bowl loss to Notre Dame, a game the Bulldogs played with star quarterback Carson Beck injured and backup Gunner Stockton as his replacement.
Bobo is the second-year offensive coordinator at Georgia who had previously been part of the team’s staff and was the quarterback from 1994-97, when he threw for 6,334 yards. When he was a senior, Bobo threw for 2,751 yards on 199 -for-306 passing, with 19 touchdowns.
He has largely taken the blame for a Georgia offense that was 43rd in yardage at 413.8 per game in 2024 after having ranked fifth in yards per game in the past two seasons. Even before the bowl season got rolling, fans were considering Bobo as a likely candidate to be fired.
Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart
Brett Davis-Imagn Images
But with the way Georgia sputtered out of the playoff, the calls for Bobo to be axed have gotten to a fever pitch.
As ESPN’s Paul Finebaum said on “Get Up” n Friday morning, “(Fans) will not be blaming Kirby Smart. They will be blaming Mike Bobo, who is the offensive coordinator. He came in and took over for Todd Monken who went to the NFL. And quite frankly, nobody is very happy with him.
“He’s Kirby Smart’s best friend, they were roommates, and it many believe that Kirby Smart looks past reality and simply respected and honored a friend who used to work for Mark Richt at Georgia and then moved on and failed as a head coach.”
Best friend or not, in the wake of Georgia putting up only 10 points against the Irish, it was clear that Bulldogs fans were eager for Kirby to make a move on Bobo heading into next year.
